Batzina

I am going to tell you a short story. My father comes from a mountainous village in the central Greece. His village is called Sklithro and is located around 600 m. above the level of the sea in the mountain of Mavrovouni (Black Mountain). The village is very small and not touristic at all. It does not have a hotels or rooms to let. You can only visit it, but you cannot stay, unless you have a relative who owns a house. It is surrounded by intense greenery. Chestnut trees, almond trees and platanus are some of the trees you can find there.

My father owns a house and we go every summer for a week or two, because lucky us, the beach is only 20 minutes from the village. Part of my father’s family lives there, his aunt and two of her children.

My father’s aunt-her name is Artemis- is 88 years old, a very vivid person, full of life and stamina. Until couple of years ago, she was climbing the small roads of the village like a goat. Two years ago she had a light stroke, which left her a slight instability and a noise in her head. It is sad to see how age affects people, especially people so dynamic and alive. Anyway, she can no longer go around that easily, but she moves in the house and on the backyard.

I wanted to make something for Joanne’s Regional Recipes, since Greece is the theme for this month, that was not shown very often on the internet. Everybody knows tzarziki, souvlaki, spanakopita, etc.

Batzina is a type of bread pie found in the central area of Greece. Aunt Artemis made that very often when we visited. So, who is better person to ask than her?

I called her and she was very happy to hear me on the phone. She does not know internet and what I am doing, but she was very happy to share the way she makes it with me. What she told me is that this pie is very easy and they used to make it when they returned from the cultivation of the land, because it can be made in no time. She gave me the doses roughly, so I had to recreate it translating the handfuls and coffee cups into actual measurements. The end result was very good, so I am giving you the recipe. As I told you before, I am sending this to Joanne's Regional Recipes.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Dissolve the yeast in the ¼ cup lukewarm water. Aunt Artemis told me that when she was younger she did it with sourdough, but now it is easier for her to do it with yeast. Same is for me. In the mixer put the flour the soda and add the wet ingredients except the water. Start adding water and stop when you see that a runny batter is formed. A little runnier than the batter of the cake, a little less runny than the batter of crepes. Add the feta cheese and mix by hand. Butter a round pan with 28cm. diameter flour it and throw the batter in.


Sprinkle some olive oil and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until golden. Let it stand for 10 minutes and then cut and serve.